Say goodbye to summer and “fall” into autumn — pumpkin spice season is here! If you’re a fall enthusiast, you might be planning a trip to the pumpkin patch. While you pick up pumpkins to carve, grab a couple and read this article: I’ll tell you how to make the best dessert and also how to make your evening more festive by using the rest of the pumpkin during dinner.
Best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
This applies to both canned pumpkin and fresh pumpkin, so make sure to apply this tip either way. Before you even begin to make your cookies, take your pumpkin and drain it through a cheesecloth over a strainer. Let it drain for 30 minutes or so. Every time that I have done this, my friends have raved about my pumpkin cookies.
Here’s how I make mine.
What you’ll need
- 1⁄2 cup or 1 stick of butter melted and cooled (Kerrygold works best. Dear Deseret News reader, buy in bulk at Costco — you’ll save tons).
- 1⁄2 cup brown sugar, dark or light, your choice.
- 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar.
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (mind you — 1 cup drained, not before draining).
- 2 teaspoons vanilla (I don’t actually measure vanilla, so this is an estimate — sorry).
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin spice, divided into one tablespoon each.
- 11⁄2 cups flour (I add a couple extra tablespoons since I live at a higher altitude).
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder.
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda.
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt.
- 1 cup chocolate chips OR freshly chopped chocolate.
What you need to do
- At the onset, your butter should be melted and cooled. This is integral. Melt it on a stovetop and let it cool by setting aside.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix together both your sugars and butter.
- Add in your vanilla to the mixture, then fold in your pumpkin puree. Add one tablespoon of pumpkin spice.
- In a separate bowl (do actually use a separate bowl — it’s helpful), add in all your dry ingredients including the other tablespoon of pumpkin spice and whisk together.
- Add the wet ingredients little by little to the dry ingredients and fold in until well-combined.
- Add the chocolate to the well-combined mixture.
- Scoop out onto a cookie sheet (use parchment paper or silicone mats). Bake for 11-12 minutes or until done.
- Optional: When you pull the cookies out of the oven, sprinkle flaky salt on top of them.
What to do while the cookies bake
If you used fresh pumpkin to make your cookies, then try making dinner in a pumpkin. Make sure to scoop out the insides and remove all the seeds (but also make sure that you roast those with olive oil and salt because they taste great) and make something like rice, ground beef, cheese and peppers or a beef stew. Then, serve it in the pumpkin as if the pumpkin were a bowl.
This is a festive, fun way to eat dinner, then surprise your family with the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.